The present invention generally relates to the configuration of peripheral devices in a computer system and, more particularly, to a flexible, easy-to-use mechanism for the complicated task of modifying the device configuration of a personal computer by a sophisticated user.
Personal computers have come into wide spread use by a variety of people. The experience of those using personal computers ranges from relatively uninitiated to sophisticated. In the case of a relatively uninitiated computer user, the hardware and software configuration of the computer system is generally determined by the vendor. But with experience, even the relatively uninitiated become more sophisticated and, as a result, there is a growing population of computer users that separately purchase various hardware and software components which must be assembled into a system. For example, the user may have a personal computer system with a dot-matrix printer and later desire to add a letter-quality printer to the system. This involves more than a simple cable connection between the computer and the added printer. It may require the addition of a second printer port, and the computer, in effect, must be told that a second printer has been added and what the parameters of the second printer are. This process is often referred to as "installing" the printer and the specification of the printer's parameters is part of the configuration process. Even for the sophisticated user, the configuration process can be a complicated task, especially when the process must accommodate a variety of devices such as video displays, diskette drives, plotters and the like from a large number of manufacturers. There exists the possibility that errors may be made in the configuration process with the result that the added device will not function properly or not at all in the system. It is therefore desirable to simplify the reconfiguration process by the user of a personal computer system.